A mail-in poll that includes California’s Proposition 50 is seen on this illustration taken in Encinitas, California, U.S., October 21, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
The U.S. Postal Service proposed new guidelines Friday that may require states to offer voter-level information on mail-in ballots in federal elections, at some point after a federal choose declined to right away block President Donald Trump’s govt order tightening mail-in voting guidelines.
The proposal would require states to undergo the Postal Service the names and addresses of voters receiving mail-in or absentee ballots, together with distinctive barcodes tied to every voter’s outbound and return poll envelopes.
USPS mentioned the rule would assist decide what number of ballots have been mailed and permit officers to match that determine with the variety of ballots returned to detect potential points for additional investigation.
The rule would apply to common, particular and runoff federal elections, however not primaries or ballots despatched to army and abroad voters.
The proposal shifts USPS from recommending ballot-mail practices to mandating them for federal elections. The rule would require official logos, monitoring barcodes, and a reporting system linking voters to particular envelopes.
USPS would use the information to create state-specific “Mail-In and Absentee Participation Lists” via a brand new Federal Poll Mail Portal. The proposal would additionally let the USPS return outbound federal poll mailings that don’t meet the brand new requirements or are usually not tied to state-submitted voter lists.
States would nonetheless management who’s eligible to vote by mail. The Structure designates states to supervise most election-related features, not the federal authorities.
USPS didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The rule follows Trump’s March 31 govt order on elections that directed USPS to start a rulemaking on mail-in and absentee poll companies.
A federal choose on Thursday declined to right away block the mail-voting provisions of the order, discovering the problem untimely as a result of businesses had not but carried it out.
“Your entire Trump Administration will proceed lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact – which incorporates the protection and safety of American elections,” White Home spokesperson Abigail Jackson instructed CNBC. “This marketing campaign pledge from the President is why hundreds of thousands of People despatched him again to the White Home…”
The choose’s Thursday ruling leaves open the chance that Democrats may problem the coverage once more as soon as the administration takes additional steps to implement it.
Democrats and plenty of voting rights teams have argued that Trump’s order intrudes on states’ authority over elections and will make it tougher to vote by mail. The administration previously has defended steps to tighten the method as election-integrity measures.
“Mail-in voting is protected and safe – interval. This new rule is simply one other malicious try by the Trump administration to suppress the votes of hundreds of thousands and attempt to throw the election outcomes,” Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-NY, mentioned in an announcement.
“Democrats will proceed our battle within the courts and in Congress to make sure that each voter can solid their poll this November,” Schumer continued.
The proposed rule is scheduled to be printed within the Federal Register on June 2. Public feedback are due 30 days after publication.
